Belgium To Help Fund Tesso Nilo Elephant Conversation Center

Pekanbaru, Riau, Dec 15 (ANTARA) - The Belgian government will provide 200,000 euros in assistance for the construction of a Sumatran elephant conservation center in the Tesso Nilo National Park (TNTN), Riau Province, a local official has said.

"Belgium will provide 200 thousand euros for the elephant conservation center in TNTN," director of the Forest Investigation and Protection of the Forestry Ministry, Rafles Panjaitan, said here Wednesday.

He said the foreign funding program was expected to be started in January 2011 and the funds would be channeled to Indonesia through a Belgian donor agency.

The funds would be disbursed in stages. As much as 50,000 euros would be disbursed next year.

The elephant conservation center in TNTN would replace one located in Minas, Siak district, because the location in Minas was considered no longer suitable as forest areas there had been changed into oil palm plantations and oil mining sites.

"The location in Minas is no longer suitable for the elephant conservation center because there are oil pipelines and oil palm plantations around the area," Rafles said.

He said that dozens of tame elephants in Minas will be moved to TNTN in anticipation of unexpected things between the elephants and the people around TNTN.

Tesso Nilo National Park is the largest habitat of the Sumatran elephant (Elephant maximus sumatranus) remaining in Riau and inhabited by about 100 wild elephants.